Milk Oolong

I recommend carrying milk oolong! It's my favorite and great 2 mix with other flavored teas. I'm currently drinking a mix of milk oolong, strawberry, vanilla with a hint of almond flavored tea and it's great.

From what I understand some oolongs naturally have a milky taste which has been selected for some time to develop the taste/sensation. The stuff I've got is apparently just plain old greenish oolong which has been put over some steaming milk to save going to find the actual milky stuff. I didn't care for it at all at first but after a week or two I'm finding it ok.

I'm not entirely sure the flavor is natural. Every time I ask anybody in the industry they first parrot stories of special times when the tea will produce that flavor... but eventually admit that they "Enhance" the flavor with the use of milk during the steaming process...

If anyone has first hand experiences that contradict this (such as seeing how it was produced first hand) i'd be very interested in hearing it.

Capheind: The Jin-Xuan cultivar does produce more milky taste, at least that's what I've heard. And a lot of un-flavoured teas does taste milky, I love milky Tie Guan Yin and Keemun!

I've had a tea that was from the Jin Xuan cultivar and I've also had a "Milk oolong" that the sellers claimed to be un-scented milk in it, but I really think it was steamed with milk (which is really un-ethical if you do not admit it). The taste was totally different, as was the smell. The Jin Xuan tea just had a milky taste but was just as any other high-quality green oolong, while the "Milk Oolong" had an un-natural smell and taste. Sort of a strong sweet candy smell/taste that was not really pleasant.

Yeah but the problem is that after I badger most the industry types they admit that the do use milk in theirs. I'm trying to find someone who has first hand knowledge that the same flavor is acheivable naturally. Its an obsession really... Might have to stow away on a plane for china and find out first hand.

@To Beidao: I agree with you, Jinxuan do have the milk flavor, and the nature flavor is very weak, you have to focus to feel it.

Some TGY also have milk flavor, but very few. A friend said if you baked Autumn TGY for an hour at 100℃, after few days you'll get milk flavor. Not all milk flavor tea are top quality, sometimes Benshan tea at 20USD/kg will have that flavor too.

capheind wrote:Yeah but the problem is that after I badger most the industry types they admit that the do use milk in theirs. I'm trying to find someone who has first hand knowledge that the same flavor is acheivable naturally. Its an obsession really... Might have to stow away on a plane for china and find out first hand.

I really don't hope that people think the flavored kind of "milk oolong" is still a normal product. In China, when people mention such flavored milk oolong, they would always regard it as some shabby fake stuff, something you won't want even if you are paid to drink it *Maybe* there are food safe, FDA approved flavored "milk oolong" products, but that will be totally different from the beloved milk oolong a few people spoke of above (which is the real, good stuff). In China, I haven't seen a seller who dares to claim he sells flavored milk oolong. I guess there are some bad guys making fake milk oolong out there with flavored stuff. But it's always considered a shame and not something that can be brought under the sun.

capheind wrote:Yeah but the problem is that after I badger most the industry types they admit that the do use milk in theirs. I'm trying to find someone who has first hand knowledge that the same flavor is acheivable naturally. Its an obsession really... Might have to stow away on a plane for china and find out first hand.

I really don't hope that people think the flavored kind of "milk oolong" is still a normal product. In China, when people mention such flavored milk oolong, they would always regard it as some shabby fake stuff, something you won't want even if you are paid to drink it *Maybe* there are food safe, FDA approved flavored "milk oolong" products, but that will be totally different from the beloved milk oolong a few people spoke of above (which is the real, good stuff). In China, I haven't seen a seller who dares to claim he sells flavored milk oolong. I guess there are some bad guys making fake milk oolong out there with flavored stuff. But it's always considered a shame and not something that can be brought under the sun.

And because nobody will say they flavor it that proves they don"t? What I really want is someone with first hand experience to say what actually happens in the factory. Its not that I don't believe that its an unachievable flavour, its that I can't find anyone who can tell me how the leaves differ, what these seasonal temperature drops are (as far as degrees) and what it does to the leaves that causes these flavours, instead I get a steadfast claim that they are "all natural" with vague references to a temperature change, and then later admissions that there are some added flavours. If you have this experience/knowledge I'm all ears. Seriousely, birth defect, all ears.

Hope none of this comes out hostile or simply argumentative, I'm just obsessively curious and want to know more about it. But I have yet to find anyone who can give any actual info on how its made. Has anyone done a tour of a factory? Or maybe worked in one? Or has some other experience with the process? Or is the process a trade secret of some sort and that's why I can't get info on it?

capheind wrote:And because nobody will say they flavor it that proves they don"t?

That's not what I meant. What I mean is, flavored "milk oolong" is not something normal, therefore I don't hope people regard it as a normal product, and I don't hope people think there is even a remote relation between the flavored milk oolong and the real good oolong with milk flavor. The fake stuff, if it's produced, it's not produced in a legal factory and not by approved procedure.

The natural "milk oolong", in my mind is just jin xuan. Since "milk oolong" is a vague term, I've seen people refer to other oolong varietals as "milk oolong" too, and it is true that many oolongs can achieve milk kind flavor. Jin Xuan is mainly produced in Taiwan. It has unique leaf shape compared with other Taiwan oolong varietal. But trying to recognize it among all oolong varietals just by leaf feature would be a challenge.

So what your saying is that its not made form standard Oolong leaves at some magic hour, its made from a different varietal entirely, and that it gets lumped together with all sorts of other Milk-flavored (natural or otherwise) oolongs?

capheind wrote:So what your saying is that its not made form standard Oolong leaves at some magic hour, its made from a different varietal entirely, and that it gets lumped together with all sorts of other Milk-flavored (natural or otherwise) oolongs?

The underlined part is about the natural milk oolong, right? Yes I think the natural milk oolong is just jin xuan, and many people call jin xuan "milk oolong". But as Beidao said above, jin xuan is not the only oolong varietal that can produce milk-like flavor. And the natural milk oolong smells and tastes differently from flavored oolong.

I guess it strikes my nerve a bit to think that a flavored oolong could share a similar name with a nice, famous all natural oolong